The present invention relates generally to a method and a system for on-line screening of chemical customers. More specifically, the present invention provides a method and a system for screening potential customers of chemical products prior to the purchase or procurement of the chemical products from chemical manufacturers and/or distributors. The screening process may entail querying a potential customer about the customer""s level of safety with regard to the chemical products and making decisions concerning the distribution of the chemical products to the potential customer based upon the answers provided by the customers.
After the catastrophe at the Union Carbide facility in Beaphol, India in the late 1970""s, the chemical industry undertook a concerted effort to regain public credibility by demonstrating that they operate their business in a responsible manner to protect workers, the public, and the environment. In an effort to gain back public respectability and confidence and to reverse the trend of increased government control and intervention based upon environmental damage publicized as a result of chemical company activities/production, the Chemical Manufacturers Association (xe2x80x9cCMAxe2x80x9d) implemented a self administered effort to demonstrate that the products that member companies produce and/or distribute are used in a responsible manner. The companies making up the CMA banded together to put in place a mechanism to ensure organizations buying their products exercise responsible behavior in using their products.
The principles by which member companies agreed they would conduct their activities became known as Responsible Care, with the specific guiding principles related to knowing details about the customers"" use and knowledge for properly handling a product. This became known as the Product Stewardship code. It is but one of the guiding principles of Responsible Care, and it is one of the most difficult to comply with because it is xe2x80x98customer facing,xe2x80x99 meaning it requires scrutiny of the customer and how they use a product. The means by which this is done by the selling company is by making sure employees of companies that purchase hazardous products are trained in proper use and safeguards, by verifying that the neighboring community is afforded adequate protection by ensuring precautions and procedures are incorporated by the using company, and by ensuring that procedures employed by the company protect the environment.
As mentioned, this collaborative effort was initiated by member companies of the Chemical Manufacturers Association (xe2x80x9cCMAxe2x80x9d). The effort is known as Responsible Care, which soon became a prerequisite for membership to the organization, and became a guiding principle of the organization. Similarly, the National Association of Chemical Distributors (xe2x80x9cNACDxe2x80x9d) created their own xe2x80x9cresponsible carexe2x80x9d program called the xe2x80x9cResponsible Distribution Processxe2x80x9d (xe2x80x9cRDPxe2x80x9d) to fulfill the same underlying philosophy. The CMA membership primarily consists of chemical manufacturers, while NACD""s membership is primarily chemical distributors. Responsible Care/Responsible Distribution is also generally known as xe2x80x9cProduct Stewardship.xe2x80x9d
In practice, manufacturers and distributors have, through the years, met the Product Stewardship guiding principle of Responsible Care/Responsible Distribution through human contact with the xe2x80x98customerxe2x80x99. Manufacturers and distributors relied upon their sales force to contact potential and existing customers, and informally make an assessment on the manner in which a company conducts its business. If a potential customer ran a questionable operation, there would be discussion about upgrading operating procedures of the facility. This has been, for the most part, a very informal process, with the ultimate decision not to sell to the customer because of poor Product Stewardship practices being the ultimate hammer. Thus, many of the decisions were made on a subjective basis by an xe2x80x98on-sitexe2x80x99 personxe2x80x94sometimes a sales representative, other times a company driver making a deliveryxe2x80x94that scrutinized the back-end operation and reported back to management of the selling organization. As time went on, the level of sophistication has improved, but the principle of human evaluation has continued with a great deal of subjectivity entering the process, with little in the way of consistent standards from supplier to supplier.
The advent of e-commerce brought about a new problem relative to Product Stewardship. Suddenly the human contact element was taken out of the picture. E-commerce brings the potential for the buyer and seller of a chemical product to never make physical contact with one another. The buyer comes to the seller""s web-site and selects products; the e-commerce provider passes the order to a supplier who ships the product. There is no need for on-site contact. The potential exists for firms to not follow the guiding principles of CMA/NACD Product Stewardship. This is causing a great debate within the supplier and distributor communities: how to meet the intent of the Product Stewardship principles they have committed to with the respective organizations.
Therefore, an improved system and a method are necessary to allow buyers of products, such as, for example, chemical products, to purchase the products on-line, or otherwise via a computer network. Moreover, a system and a method are needed that screens a buyer of products that are hazardous to a potential user of the product or to the environment for particular information related to how the product is intended to be used and what precautions are in place to take care of emergencies related to the product. A decision may then be made to determine whether the product may be shipped to the buyer based on answers to the query.
The present invention relates to a system and a method of screening potential customers of chemical products for safe practices related to the chemicals they wish to purchase or otherwise obtain from manufacturers and/or distributors. A chemical customer may order chemical products on-line. The chemical products may be categorized based upon the degree of hazard they pose. A defined set of criteria may be applied to all products offered for sale by the company on its site. Products may be assigned a designation such as: 1) high risk, 2) low risk, 3) custom, or 4) no risk. The degree of screening of the customer prior to the sale is based upon the degree of regulation a product is given by some agency of the government (e.g. DEA, EPA, BATF, etc.), or the level of safety and environmental concern the product may pose to workers, the public, and the general environment.
Based upon the categorization of the product, a database system may be provided whereby the product, upon a first order by a given company and location, may provide an on-line questionnaire which requests specific information of the company relative to company employee practices (ensuring safety practices are in place), what facility precautions are in place at the facility (to ensure environmental and community protection), what permits are in place (for products requiring specific permits for use of the product), and an oath/declaration that the information provided is accurate. The initial order may not be processed until the questionnaire is submitted. Upon submission, the responses may be reviewed and approved or rejected. Questionnaires may be archived, with approvals placed on an xe2x80x9cupdate schedulexe2x80x9d whereby the initial responses may be returned to the ordering company to verify the information is still accurate after the specified period of time has elapsed.
It is, therefore, an advantage of the present invention to provide a system and a method for screening customers of hazardous products that ensure that the customers of the hazardous products have procedures in place for handling emergencies related to the products. Moreover, it is an advantage of the present invention to provide a system and a method for screening customers that ensure that information relative to the purchaser""s preparedness to handle emergencies is gathered and stored prior to having the product shipped to the customer. Moreover, it is an advantage of the present invention to provide a system and a method for screening customers of products that allows the information to be reviewed by a reviewer using a particular set of criteria.
Further, it is an advantage of the present invention to provide a system and a method for screening customers of products that minimizes risks for the parties involved in ordering the products. Still further, it is an advantage of the present invention to provide a system and a method for screening potential customer of products that provides a degree of screening that is relative to the degree of hazard a particular product poses to users or to the environment.
And, it is an advantage of the present invention to provide a system and a method for screening potential customers of products that provides follow-up contact with customers to request information related to changed practices of the customer after a certain period of time has elapsed. In addition, an advantage of the present invention is to provide a system and a method for screening customers of products that automatically notifies a reviewer that a form has been submitted by a customer related to the customer""s preparedness and practices in handling emergencies with the product.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention are described in and will be apparent from, the detailed description of the presently preferred embodiments and from the drawings.